Artist Bios
Mark Deutsch,
Mark’s performance career began at the age of twelve, has distinguished himself in both Western and Eastern Classical Traditions, as well as Avant-Garde and Jazz scenes, with his synergy of perfect technique and expressive ingenuity. Deutsch invented and built the world’s first Bazantar, a five string acoustic bass fitted with twenty-nine sympathetic strings and four drone strings, for which he was awarded a U.S. patent. His Bazantar and Sitar performances have garnered critical acclaim at high-profile venues such as the Julliard School of Music, Merkan Concert Hall, Earthdance International, and the Herbst Theatre.
Matthew Montfort
The leader of Ancient Future plays the Glissantar, and is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar, an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar. It has a fretboard from which part of the wood has been removed between the frets to reduce friction when bending notes. Montfort studied intensively with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to apply the note-bending techniques to the guitar. He has studied with the masters of many world music traditions, from sarod master Ali Akbar Khan to gamelan director K.R.T. Wasitodipuro. He has worked with legendary world music figures such as Swapan Chaudhuri and Zakir Hussain.
Jaron Lanier is a multi-instrumentalist and renaissance man. Lanier has made contributions in musical realms as a composer, performer, and theorist and owns one of the world’s largest collections of rare and exotic instruments. Proficient with all types he has a focus on wind and keyboards. Jaron has a monthly column in Discover magazine and is known in the scientific community for his work around ‘virtual reality’, coining
this term in the process.
The Jomon Butoh troupe was formed by Martha Matsuda in early 2007 to facilitate improvisational group co-creations. Ankoku Butoh, the Dance of Utter Darkness, was created by Tatsumi Hijikata, Kazuo Ohno and others following the aftermath of WWII. During the late 1950’s - early 60’s, Japanese artists struggled toward modernism without being overrun by Western sensibilities. Japanese traditions, ostensibly expunged from Butoh, co-mingled with German Neu Danz techniques, flamenco and a theatrical stylism. Hijikata derived images from the harsh rural environments and people of Hokkaido (northern Japan). Sometimes grotesque, butoh movements are often paradoxically layered with surrealistic spiritual ephemera, the mundane and occasionally the hilarious. Its intensity is held inward. Watching butoh, then, becomes akin to experiencing another’s intimate dream – the imagery might not “make sense” but something deep and elemental is communicated. Participants in the Cave Concert on October 13, 2007: Christina Braun, Shelley Cook, Wolfgang Heinle, Karen Marek, Martha Matsuda
Goddess EnChanTresses
The EnChanTresses are a gathering of six accomplished
women vocalists, musicians and performers. Together
they create deep ritual and sacred performance
invoking the Divine Feminine. EnChanTresses are Cait
McWhir, Francesca Genco, Tina "Bean" Blaine, Kimberly
Joy Theurich, Evelie Delfino-Sales and Supriya Ishaya.